Algiers — Over 140 representatives from African National Statistics Offices, National Planning Offices along with representatives of Civil Society Organizations, the private sector and African Negotiators attended a meeting organized by ECA and partners (African Union Commission, African Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and United Nations Fund for Population Activities) on 5-8 May 2015 in Algiers, Algeria, to develop indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The intensive working sessions yielded a set of national, regional and global SDG indicators that will feed into the global process of developing indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals. The global process is led by the United Nations Statistics Commission which will present a final set of indicators to the co-facilitators of the post 2015 development agenda in March 2016. Prior to that date, African statisticians and other stakeholders will convene again to fine-tune their proposed set of indicators and strategize on how to get them accepted at the global level.
After the indicators are adopted, the next steps include defining baselines for the indicators and assessing and building statistical capacities of National Statistical Offices and the entire National statistical systems to ensure effective monitoring of the SDGs. The meeting underscored that strong M&E institutions must be underpinned by reliable data, hence related capacity building initiatives will provide necessary support to strengthen capacities for data collection, analysis and dissemination.
